Living Legacy
by MajorStupoid
Summary: Nearly twenty years after Fairy Tail's historic battle against the Dark Guild Tartarus, it's time for a new set of heroes to emerge from the depths. Follow Yuri Asher in his journey to live up to his father's name as he joins the Esperscale Guild, ultimately battling rival guilds, demons, and the ultimate darkness that his father was unable to defeat.
1. 1 Introduction to Heroism

{sequel to Black Fairy}

* * *

I was thrown to the ground forcefully, the mud getting on my pants which I had just bought. I stood, adamant to not show weakness. "Oh look, the little runt is getting back up! He's just asking for a beating, isn't he?"

I glared at them with venom seeping from my eyes. Twilight Ogre, a legal guild by the books, but they were filled with scum, especially after that other guild beat them out of Magnolia nearly twenty years ago and into this town.

As they started to walk toward me, I shot a hand forward, them half expecting a magic spell to be flung, but instead I just held a finger up at the main guy. My glare quickly turned into a grin. "One hit," I said as cheerily as I had at the beginning of this confrontation.

"W-what?"

"One hit; I'm going to beat you in one hit."

They started laughing, but my smile never faded. "One hit? That's really funny considering your sword isn't even drawn, not that it would do you any good. You just carry that thing around for looks, but in a fight it's useless," they mocked.

I took a stance, my sword held in its usual back-handed style. "As I always say; I'm always itching for a challenge. You'll never know unless I try; what do you say?"

"Tch, alright, I'll play your game. What do I get if you don't beat me in one hit?"

"Well, you get to hit me again, I'll allow that at least, but if you want more…then how does two-hundred-thousand sound to you?"

"Two-hundred-thousand jewels?! No way a little twerp like you has that much on you!"

"You don't know that," I said innocently, my smile remaining. "But if I win this little wager, I get a hundred thousand from each of you, alright?"

"Haha! Hahahaha! Alright, twerp, you made me laugh; take your best shot. The most you'll do is give me a bruise," he mocked, holding his arms out to give me a good angle.

My grin then changed into a smirk. "Alright, but be prepared to fork it over," I said, tightening my stance before dashing forward in a flash, appearing having slashed behind him.

"Ha! I didn't even feel it."

"Wait for it," I said as I locked my sword, still in its sheathe, to my belt, standing straight as I heard the man grunt and then a thud was heard behind me. I turned around grinning as I saw him on the ground. "Alright, that'll be four-hundred-thousand total, and don't bother running; I'll catch you."

I walked away from the group satisfied, tossing up and down a fat sack of Jewels in one hand and my sword in the other.

I then passed by and alley, throwing the sack up, only to have it caught by my worst nightmare. My head creaked to the side, a nervous smile across my face as I saw her straight purple hair flow in the gentle wind, basically spelling my death. "Kagura, I mean…Teacher, I…didn't realize you were, you know…in the neighborhood, and, uh…" I trailed off, breaking into a run to get away from her as she just gave me a glare that could kill if she possessed that type of magic.

I rounded a corner into an alleyway and jumped headfirst into a garbage bin, waiting for her footsteps to pass me by. When they had, I let out the breath I had been holding in, popping my head up to check if she was still there, which she wasn't so I happily hopped out, breathing a sigh of relief.

"Well, I lost the cash, but I've got my head, so I'll consider it a win for me," I said, about to walk away.

"Oh is it now?" Kagura's voice came from behind me and before I had a chance to turn around, she activated her gravity change magic around me, sending me plummeting into the ground, now too heavy to stand or even turn over to look at her.

She snatched my sword away and walked a few steps before releasing the spell. "H-hey! Give that back!" I demanded as I stood, charging toward her, only succeeding in running past her as she slid around me without even looking at me. She did the same once again, but the third time she just up and kicked me away.

I landed on my butt and just waited for my scolding. "Yuri," she said in demanding tone. "You know what I've told you about hustling Jewels with your skills."

"Yeah, yeah…" I muttered as I stood, only to be forced to the ground with her magic again. "That is…so not fair," I forced out before she released the spell once again. I sat up and looked at the ground, my sleek white hair shrouding my eyes.

"Yuri Asher, look at me," she ordered. I reluctantly did so, and she gave me a clear view of my sword. "This blade was passed down by your father to me and then to you. It is his final gift to us; it's sacred. You'd do well to treat it as such," she said as she tossed it to me, with me catching it and laying in on my lap. "It shouldn't be used for such petty purposes as hustling a quick buck," I didn't respond. "Besides, doing so isn't keeping within your goal, remember? Becoming a true hero, right?"

"I know…" I admitted. She had told me this before.

She sighed, kneeled down, and put a hand on my shoulder. "Keep your chin up, would you? When you don't…it makes me feel like I haven't raised you properly."

I cracked a smile. "Well, maybe you haven't," I joked, causing her to chuckle.

"There's the cocky grin I love to see," she said, even though it soon faded. "Yuri, listen, you need to stop this. These petty acts will only lead you down a dark path to bigger and bigger thefts and one day it'll get you killed."

"Yeah, I know, you've told me," I complained, leaning back, using my arms to support myself.

"I may have told you, but you haven't listened yet."

"Maybe the words would sink in if it were my actual blood-parents saying them," I said harshly, striking a nerve with my Teacher, though I was too stubborn at the time to take it back.

"Yuri…" she started, prompting me to continue on my rant which I'd said to myself so many times before.

"But it's not like that can happen, right?" I said with a sad chuckle in my voice. "I mean, my dad died and left me from the afterlife and my mom gave me to you soon after, and even then she hasn't been seen for over five years now," I said angrily. "And now, after seventeen years, all I have left of them is this stupid sword," I said as I threw it away to Kagura's feet, wrath clouding my heart.

She picked it up, walked over to me and kneeled in front of me once again. I looked away from her as it dawned on me the severity of my words.

"I…I-I'm sorry…that came out wrong."

"No, venting is…always good. Maybe work on your word choice next time though…" she assured, placing the sword in my lap. "I think it's time for you to get some family, so I was thinking-"

"But you're my family," I interrupted, my voice lower than normal, showing my sadness that she didn't openly acknowledge me as a relative, even though I did her.

"But I'm only one person," she reminded me. "You need siblings, a father figure maybe."

"You're…not going to send me to an orphanage again like when you got mad at me, are you? Because I've kinda broken out of every single one you threw me in, so…"

"No, not an orphanage; how about a Mage's Guild?"

My nose scrunched up. "What? Gross! Those people are freaks."

"And you're not?" she retorted, silently reminding me that she had once been in a guild. Now she worked as a swordsmanship specialist training people for cash…I was an exception to the cash part.

"Well, whatever, it's not like I can use magic whenever I want. I'm not normal like you are, or everybody else is," I countered back.

"Sure you are; you just need some…work…" she knew form the moment she started that sentence that it would be bullshit.

"Teacher, I have no magic power unless my sword is drawn, and when it is sheathed again, my magic disappears. That's not normal," I answered.

She sighed. "Even still; I used mainly that sword and only used magic when it was necessary, just like you're gonna do."

"Pft, whatever. Find a guild that isn't bat-shit insane, and maybe I'll considering joining."

"Oh you're joining alright," she ordered.

"And why should I?"

"Because if you don't," I expected her to threaten me with death; she'd done it before after all, but she only held up the sack of Jewels. "You're not getting this back to use on food."

"What?!" I yelled. "That's completely unfair!" I continued though I was soon silenced by meeting my nose with the ground.

"Now then," she started walking circles around me as I lay on the ground from her magic, despite her having released the spell. "Which guild should you join? That's always a good question to ask. I suppose my old guild is out because it's all female. Mermaid Heel probably wouldn't suit you as a cross-dresser either," she commented, delving into her darker thoughts of dressing me up as a woman to join an all-female guild. That would've given me nightmares.

"What about that really famous one; Fairy Tail?"

"No way," she said sternly. "Those people _are_ freaks."

"Isn't your older sister the Guild Master?" I questioned. I'd never actually met the woman, but if she was Kagura's older sibling, then she must've been three times as scary.

"Yes she is, but that's not important. And besides, I can't have you spreading rumors about me to her, ones that I might add, would most likely be completely untrue!"

"You mean like how you only just recently stopped sleeping with one pillow between your legs and one in the normal spot?"

"Shut up!" she snapped. "Everybody has awkward sleeping positions sometimes-"

"Every night," I corrected, only to be slapped away. "Alright, I kind of deserved that," I said as I picked myself up.

Kagura popped a fist onto her palm. "Oh! There's an up-and-coming guild with only a few members that would be perfect for you. They've had a lot of successful missions for that small of a guild, so there are sure to be a lot of strong mages there for you to bond with," she said excitedly. "I believe their name was…Esperscale."

 **Author's Note:**

 **Hey guys! I have to say that I'm super excited to get this one going!**

 **In case you were absolutely lost, this is a sequel to my previous fic, Black Fairy. This takes place nearly twenty years after it ended, so everyone is going to be older than you're used to, once we actually get to them, but just stick with it and give it a chance if you could.**

 **Other than that, this was just an introduction, so next chapter we're gonna get to know a new guild: Esperscale!**


	2. 2 A Meeting Fated

"Hey, wake up, wake up, it's your first day!" Isaac yelled in Yuri's ear. His eyes rolled open at the sound of the boy's voice, one that had already become quite grating.

Isaac was the first person from the guild that Yuri had met, being the one that showed him around the night before and was one of the only people awake at that time. He wasn't particularly tall, compared to Yuri who stood a good four to five inches over the boy of the same age. This dark copper hair was in messy, back-arcing spikes on his head, save for two thick bangs framing his face. His eyes were a bit peculiar; they were, to Yuri at least, very innocent. It was as if he believed in something simple, an absolute law that couldn't be questioned, rather than an ideal; at least that was the impression Yuri got off of him. You know, besides the words 'annoying,' 'loud,' and 'even louder.'

"Hey, you hear me? It's your first day in Esperscale, and every member's first day should be one to remember!"

Yuri pulled the covers back over his head. "Five more minutes..." he whined.

Isaac simply pulled them off. "Alright, I'll be waiting for you at breakfast in the main hall that I showed you yesterday, alright?" He said, not bothering to wait for the other boy's response before he bounded off with his limitless energy.

With that, Yuri was left with a bit more peace and quiet before he finally decided to face the music and get up to at least eat before going back to bed.

However, once he grabbed his sword and made his way outside to the guild hall, he didn't see any food. Isaac made his way over to him through the guild hall. "Hey man! Where were you?" He demanded, though Yuri ignored him.

"Where's breakfast?" Yuri asked.

"It was cleaned up twenty minutes go."

The swordsman sighed. "Alright, fine. I'll just go to the storage and find something there," he said before he started to walk off. However Isaac stopped him.

"Wait!" He pulled Yuri back. "You can't."

Yuri sighed once again. "Alright, then I'm gonna go get some grub from a local joint. I'll be back soon."

"You and what money? You haven't gone on any jobs yet," Yuri pulled out the sack of money he got from the wager the other day. "And how much is in there?"

He tossed it up and down for a moment. "All in all, if those guys didn't lie to me…um…around four hundred thousand Jewels. Why?" he asked.

"Four hundred thousand?!" Isaac yelled. "And you're taking the guild's sleeping quarters?!" he demanded.

Yuri shrugged. "It's a pain to find an apartment," he said lazily.

"B-but…four hundred thousand!"

Yuri only shook his head and exited the guild. Soon he found himself stuffing his face at a local diner, sitting at a two person table, but sadly he was by himself. Perhaps by Fate's hand, he wouldn't be for much longer.

It was then that a certain chestnut-haired mage waltzed in, unbeknownst to Yuri, and ordered her own meal, not being able to find a seat anywhere else but across from him. Before Yuri knew it, the girl was standing over him with a warm smile on her face. "Excuse me?"

"Eh?" Yuri wondered, opening his eyes. "What is it?" he asked, keeping his eyes on his food.

"Do you mind if I sit here?" she asked. Yuri nodded.

"Sure, I was just about to leave anyway," he said as he stood, finally looking at the girl, and becoming dumbfounded at her beauty. Her face was soft and yet mature, exactly how he always imagined a goddess or angel to look; elegant, and youthful. Her hair, another copper-head, though her shade was much lighter in comparison to Isaac's, was held in a high bun which bobbed up and down as she moved, as if personifying her spark of emotion.

"Um…actually, I was hoping to have someone to talk to," she said, sitting down.

"Um…" he couldn't form the words before shaking his head to gather his thoughts. "I mean…I don't have many pressing matters to attend to, so I guess I could stick around."

"Great!" she shot a beaming smile at him as he sat across from her. "What's your name?"

"Yuri Asher," he said. "And yours, Angel?"

"You can call me that, if you like," she enticed him. "But for a name, how about Iris Alead?"

"Iris, huh? It fits, with your emerald eyes," he commented with a smile.

"Emerald?" she asked as she unwrapped her food. "My boyfriend told me they were gray."

Yuri's smile faded. Being proven wrong and being told he has no shot with her; the absolute worst sentence ever to have been uttered to him. Yuri shook his head once again, regaining his composure for no other reason than to not look like a moron.

"Um…I'm sitting right across from you, so I don't see how I can mistake the color of your eyes," he argued.

"Well, all I'm saying is what my boyfriend said. It's not like I look in the mirror only to see what color my eyes are," she teased. "Anyway, Asher…I think I've heard that name before."

"Really?" Yuri asked, half interested and half hesitant to bring up his past. "Where?"

"I think it was a story my boyfriend told me, about his mother."

"Oh? That's neat I guess. Who's your boyfriend?" he asked to be polite.

"His name is Errol Scarlet. He's a Requip Mage."

"Errol?" Yuri wondered. "I've…heard the name around here, but I'm not quite sure I know who he is."

She gave the boy and confused look. "Really? He's really famous, you know? He's the Hero of Esperscale after all."

"Hero?" just the word perked Yuri up. "Really? He must be one hell of a guy then. I can't wait to meet him!" he said with a grin, only to be met with an involuntarily somber expression from Iris. "What is it? Did I say something?"

Not realizing that she had been frowning, she shook her head and smiled. "No, just some…bad memories. Anyway, on another note, do you always have a katana on your lap when you eat, or is today a special occasion?" she asked, tapping the edge of the sheath with her finger.

Yuri gently pulled it away from her, protective of it. "It's…a family heirloom. It's kinda all I've got to call my own at this point," he admitted, not realizing that Iris had stolen his sack of Jewels until she held it up to him.

"You mean other than all of this?" she teased as he snatched it back. She giggled as he checked to see if she stole any of it. The sound was like music to Yuri's ears, despite himself.

"Iris," a voice called from the entrance to the joint. "You said five minutes," the man said.

Iris suddenly looked rather worried as she gathered up her drink and remaining food. "Oh, sorry Errol!" she called back, though he had already gone back outside. "Alright, goodbye for now, Yuri. I'm sure we'll see each other really soon. You should come by the guild sometime," she said as she left, not realizing that Yuri was indeed a member of the guild, despite his guild mark being on the back of his right hand the entire time, where Kagura had told him his father's guild mark was located.

With a sigh, Yuri was left alone again, but this time, he wasn't satisfied; he wanted to talk with Iris more. He felt something burn within his chest; anticipation. "Heh," he chuckled to himself. "For my sake, I hope our meeting again is _really_ soon, or else I might die from the anxiety."

* * *

With that, Yuri decided to head back to the guild, maybe go back to bed for a nap, but most likely to have his first look at the job request board. Instead of either of them, he decided to go over to Isaac, who was pouting.

"What's with you?" Yuri asked the boy. "You're not as loud as usual."

"It's nothing," he insisted. "…I just have to put up with him for a few minutes, and then he'll go home…" he muttered.

"You know, you're loud even when you aren't trying to be. Who's 'him'?"

"He's-"

"Isaac!" the familiar voice echoed throughout the relatively quiet guild hall as Iris ran into a hug from him. The two embraced.

"Um…" Yuri said to get their attention. "Do you two know each other?"

"Know each other? We're twins," Iris explained. "And you never told me that you were a part of Esperscale!" she accused.

"Twins?!" Yuri exclaimed, only to have them both jump in front of him and strike a pose with their backs up against one another's.

"Of course! The invincible team! The Double Eyes of Esperscale; Iris and Isaac!" the girl triumphantly said.

"Well…" Yuri started as they separated. "If you two are a team, why weren't you on her job with her?" he questioned. "That _is_ why Iris was out, right?"

"Well…" Iris struggled to explain.

"It's because-" Isaac looked ready to explode as he was interrupted by a slightly older-looking man, but could still possibly be theirage, slinging his arm roughly around Iris' shoulders.

"It's because she was spending some quality time with me, isn't that right?" the man asked, his voice lined with poison if she spoke out of line.

Instead of panicking, Iris gave a light smile. "Right, quality time well spent I'd say," she assured, though it look like she was trying to assure herself as well. "Listen, Errol, you must be tired. You should go rest back at the apartment."

"Eh?" the man look confused.

"I mean, you're the one who did all of the work. You deserve a few days' rest. I'll be back soon to make you dinner too," she offered.

With a frustrated sigh that turned into a warning smile, he chuckled. "Alright, I'll leave the siblings to themselves for now, but I expect a very good night tonight in return," he said as he turned around and took his leave.

Yuri didn't realize it, but he was shaking. Isaac nodded. "Yeah, I know. He's _that_ powerful," he said, as if Yuri could somehow sense his strength, but he couldn't and the shaking wasn't out of fear; it was anger.

"He's the Hero of Esperscale?" he questioned.

The two looked at him with strange looks. "Um, yeah…why?"

"Tch…whatever, never mind," he dropped the subject. "What's going on between you two anyway?" I questioned Iris.

"What's going on? We're dating," she assured Yuri, but the latter shook his head.

"No you're not. He's using you. I can see that clearly."

"Oh? And how would you know?" she shot him a glare, but he only turned away stubbornly.

"I tend to have a knack for easily reading people, and that guy is bad news," he claimed, though he hesitated before continuing, deciding not to provoke his new friends into anger. he didn't know them well enough to know they'd get over it quickly. "…But I guess that it's not any of my business, now is it?"

Surprised by his change of tone, Iris' answer was flustered. "Y-yeah, I guess it isn't."

They both turned away from each other, Isaac in the middle of them looking confused. He then sighed with a face that said he'd seen this before. "Fighting already…I guess that means you'll be great friends…I hope."

 **Author's Note:**

 **Alright, chapter 2 is good. I changed a couple things from my word document, mostly having to do with the descriptions because, when i began writing this, I didn't have a clear image in my head yet. In fact, I had absolutely no clue as to where any of them would go at this point in writing. but now, like 40 chapters in, I think I have a vague idea at the very least.**

 **Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed and I truly do hope you leave a review to tell me what you guys think and I'll see you guys in the next chapter!**


	3. 3 The Lost's Remains

A week went by without any trouble, and Yuri just spent the time relaxing and meeting people. He met all sorts of guildmates as they came and went on jobs, and he knew better the ones who stayed and talked for a while, and all of them seemed relatively sane and polite at least, if not downright friendly, which helped.

Yuri woke up peacefully for once, the first time he'd done so since he joined. It was strange, and he immediately suspected that something was wrong so he ended up just getting up anyway; he was hungry for breakfast after all. He only hoped that it was still open.

Alright, so the good news; breakfast was still open. The bad news; a demonic purple-haired swordswoman was guarding it and filling the entire room with gravity magic, the only ones seemingly being able to resist the magic being the guild master, Shynryn Lyrtur, this other woman, Shynryn's sister, named Nythera Lirtur, or just Thera, both of whom Yuri had only spoken to once, and Errol.

Yuri was standing just outside her gravity field's range, thankfully, as he watched his Teacher interrogate the entire guild.

"Tell me, boy," she said as she picked up Isaac. "Where would I find Yuri Asher?"

Looking around frantically, Isaac pointed to the man in question. With a look at his disheveled appearance, Kagura scrunched up her nose before deactivating her magic.

"Ah, there you are," she said as she dropped Isaac and walked over to her pupil, standing over him as the others watched. "From your look, I'd say you just got out of bed; are you so lazy as to not clean up before you come to the guild?"

"Well, I sleep here, so I only come out like this for breakfast, when I wake up in time for it anyway," he answered. Another disgusted look appeared on her face. "What?"

"You live here when you have, most likely, still over three hundred thousand Jewels in your possession?"

"Yeah, is that a problem?" Yuri countered.

"We'll have to remedy that. Do you have the Jewels on you?"

"Well…yeah, but-"

She forcefully grabbed his free arm. "Good, then we'll start looking right away," she said as she dragged him off, no doubt making him look extremely weak in the process.

Once they were a fair distance away from the guild, Kagura allowed Yuri to wrestle free of her grasp. "Hey, Teacher, what gives?!" he demanded. "You made me look like a pushover!"

"Didn't I do that to everyone in the guild?" she questioned, putting a finger to her chin and thinking back, only making her pupil more annoyed. "Anyway, sleeping in the guild when you have that much money is unacceptable; it's downright rude, Yuri."

"Well…yeah, but it's not like there's a shortage of space. It's not like I'm intruding," he countered.

"Trust me, this is for your own good," his Teacher answered as she walked toward the nearest apartment complex, Yuri trudging along after her.

She forced him to go into a number of different complex before she settled on one of the more expensive ones, much to his displeasure. Yuri was used to cramped living, it wasn't like he needed a whole condo or something. A bedroom, kitchen, and bathroom was all he needed if he was living by himself, but he got an extra bedroom, an extra bathroom, a living room, and a dining area.

With that settled, Kagura returned to the guild with him, stopping him at the entrance. "What now?" he questioned, already at his breaking point.

"Go on a job," she ordered.

"Yeah, yeah…" he waved her off.

"And have you used your magic recklessly?" she persisted.

"I haven't used it at all."

"Well that won't do either. Go out to the woods at least once a week and try to pretend to practice; you can't afford to be rusty in a life-or-death moment."

"Okay, fine."

Kagura sighed. "Alright, my work here is done," she said as she gave him a hug, which he returned, thankful for the affection that he so rarely got. With a light slap on the cheek afterwards, Kagura took her leave.

Yuri then sighed as he was prepared to be the laughing stock of the guild, but instead, as he walked in, he didn't get much notice. Noul Rodac, a guildmate, walked up to Yuri and slung her arm around his shoulders. "Scary…" she trailed off. "Your mom is terrifying."

Noul was a slender woman who had the mannerisms of a child who either didn't like to or didn't want to face the real world at times, from what Yuri had experienced. Most of her time was spent pulling pranks on her guildmates and telling jokes which garnered laughter from everyone, admittedly. her eyes reflected her personality; black as ebony, but in them was a glint of eagerness and excitement, like wildfire highlights. Her dark, silky chestnut hair was held in a loose ponytail, draped lazily over one of her shoulders.

Yuri shook her off. "She's not my mom, she's my Teacher," he corrected her.

"Even weirder," she continued with a smirk. "Heard she told you to get up off your ass and go on a job."

"Yeah, what about it?"

"Well, Isaac and I," the boy appeared out of nowhere. "Have been curious as to what type of magic you use."

"Is that so?" Yuri asked boredly, looking away. "Well tough luck; I think I'll work alone."

"Well, tough luck right back, its guild rules that says everyone has to go out with a team, no exceptions."

Yuri looked her straight in the eyes. "…I think that's bullshit."

With another smirk, Noul turned her head. "Oh Master…" she threatened to call her.

"Okay, okay, okay, fine. You can tag along, but…are you two even a team? Isaac, you're on a team with your sister, aren't you?"

"Well she's out so often with _him_ that I would never be able to go out on jobs if I was only on a team with her, so Noul and I formed a team, and now, you're a temporary member too."

Yuri sighed. "Alright, let's pick a job then," he said as they walked over to the request board. "Hm…all of these seem pretty boring," he commented before looking over at an extension of the board with more requests on them. "What about these?"

"Those are S-class quests," Thera said, sitting on the bar counter next to us, preparing a drink of herself. "And are you S-class?"

"Well…no…"

"Then don't look at them," she said harshly as she walked away. Yuri looked at the others and then shrugged.

"Whatcha guys doin'?" Iris seemingly appeared out of nowhere and jumped onto Yuri's back to look at what he was looking at.

"Gah, my Teacher wants me to go out on a job, so I'm complying," the swordsman answered.

"Well she's not here anymore, so you don't _have_ to go out on a job if you don't want to. You could always lie."

"I try not to make a habit out of it," was all Yuri responded with, inwardly finding the notion to be sickening. "I've done a good deal of things that aren't always in the moral white area depending on the circumstances, but I would never lie to my family. Heroes don't lie, is basically what I'm trying to say," he said, skimming over a job that looked like it paid well.

"Hero?" Isaac wondered. "Is that really what you wanna be?"

"Well, yeah, kinda; that's what I've trained my whole life to be, after all," Yuri admitted, causing both Noul and Isaac to burst out laughing. "What's so funny?"

"Oh nothing," Noul said as she caught her breath. "But good luck catching up to Errol on that front. Wake me from the grave when it happens, alright?"

"Yeah right. Anyway, this job looks good."

"What is it?"

"It's just taking out a group of bandits who hoard a town, but they're paying like sixty thousand for it; twenty for each of us."

"Um, excuse me, but you forgot someone," Iris pointed to herself. "I'm coming too."

"Oh? What about your _boyfriend_?" Yuri questioned, which only prompted the girl to shrug.

"I'll pretend to ignore your tone and just say that he's taking a week off, giving me time with my friends!"

"That's great, sis!" Isaac exclaimed as the group started moving.

* * *

They reached the town soon enough and soon also sniffed out the client. The man in question quickly pulled them under his bar counter, and peered over it to see if anybody saw them. "Hey, gramps, what gives?" Isaac demanded loudly, causing his sister to pull on his ear.

"Not so loud," she ordered, pulling it a little far before letting it snap back. "You're the client?"

"That's right, but I was hoping someone like Errol or Nythera would show up, not a group of amateurs," he answered, causing the group's shoulders to slump involuntarily.

"Yeah, whatever. Where are the bandits?" Yuri questioned. "Let's just take care of them so that we can get our reward."

"I'll warn you, there are a lot of them."

"There's a lot of us," he assured. "Now where are they?"

"They should be coming to collect more valuables soon."

As if on cue, footsteps were heard outside, and when they looked, a group of fifteen or so guys waltzed into down. As one of them approached, Yuri kicked him through the doorway, causing the others to turn and look at him.

"Alright, listen up; we're giving you ten seconds to scram, or things are going to get messy, got it?" he called to them as his group walked out into the open and was soon surrounded.

"Oh yeah? And what happens if we don't, pipsqueak?" one of them questioned.

"Well, for starters, you get the shit kicked out of you," Yuri said with a light-hearted smile.

"Yuri…how can you be so happy at a time like this?" Noul questioned.

"Ready? Break!" he yelled before anyone could react, and dashed into a group of five bandits on his own, taking them down easily without unsheathing his sword, with all of them unconscious within seconds.

"Afterimage! Times Fifteen!" Noul yelled as she split off into different versions of herself, all equally as mischievous and each being able to pack a punch, with her starting to decimate the next group of five through sheer numbers.

"With the power to part the sea, I grant you double strength!" Iris yelled, pointing a magic circle at her brother as he glowed a black outline.

"Sea God's Rapid!" Isaac used the strength given to him to shoot several slices of black water from his arms as he swung them in an x-pattern over and over, taking out the last group of five.

With that, all of the bandits were down and out, Noul giving a thumbs-up while the others waited for the client to come out. "Hey!" Isaac called. "We beat them, you can come out now!"

"T-that wasn't all of them…the rest are over the hill," the man said meekly.

As if on cue, again, the group heard a rumbling and soon saw hundreds of bandits walking over the hill. "It's an army!" Iris yelled.

"Crap; I can't make _that_ many of myself…" Noul added.

"What do we do?"

"We retreat and take them out tactfully; we don't have a powerhouse with us, so we'll have to-" Iris started.

"Guys, guys," Yuri called over his friends. "Relax, all of you. I've got this," he said, turning back to the new army, his white hair clouding his eyes, which were sparkling in confidence.

"This is no time to be stupid, Yuri. You can't-"

"I told you guys; I trained my whole life. If I couldn't take down a puny army of grunts," he turned back to them. "What kind of hero would I be?" he asked rhetorically as he put their back to them. "Get on the ground," he ordered as he put his sword in front of him. "I'm going to unsheathe the Archangel," he said as he did so, slowly as he felt his power surge.

White lightning released itself from the blade, engulfing Yuri as he absorbed it to become his own power. He hooked the sheath to the back of his belt and bathed in the sword's light, taking every ounce of it into his own being, the ground around them shaking with both Yuri's power and the power

"I remember now!" Iris yelled over the noise.

"Remember what?" her brother called back.

"His name; Asher! Inigo Asher used be a Fairy Tail wizard, a Thunder Devil Slayer, famous for his white lightning and ability to mimic other spells! But he died childless from what I heard!"

"Well, Yuri certainly has the white lightning down!" Noul yelled. "Get down!" she yelled, pushing herself and the others into the ground as lightning arced above them, with it becoming difficult to see through the dust.

" _I may not be able to see him, but he sure does know how to shine_ ," Iris thought as she saw a bright white light, that was Yuri, in a cloud of dust.

Yuri then shot his arm out to the side and shot five lightning bolts which suspended themselves in midair and took the form of blades, full on blades too, not just shaped like them. He did the same on his other side, and then he multiplied the amount of blades he made by five, totally fifty from what could be seen.

" _That's more than Errol ever made at one time,_ " Iris thought.

The bandits stopped just outside of town, where Yuri went to meet them, his new swords floating in a line to either side of him.

"You have three seconds!" Yuri yelled to them, his eyes now lowered into a glare. "To get out of my sight!"

The bandits stood their ground, stupidly. Yuri flicked his wrists and the blades formed a circle around him. He then took a stance, readied himself and, in a literal flash, slashed through each and every one of them, appearing having stabbed through them on the other side of the entire army.

Then, calmly, Yuri twirled his sword a bit before returning it to its sheath, his magical energy being sealed along with it and the entire army fell behind him. Yuri straightened and took a deep breath, now sweating from the exertion as his group rushed towards him.

"What was that?!" Isaac demanded. "You didn't leave any for us!"

Yuri chuckled and scratched the back of his head. "Sorry about that; I guess I got carried away."

"How could you not? You beat them in one hit!" Noul exclaimed, garnering another chuckle from her teammate.

With the threat gone and the enforcers on their way to arrest them, the group collected their Jewel reward and boarded a train back. Yuri was staring out the window for most of it, not joining in Isaac and Noul's discussion of his awesomeness and all the different things he could do other than be a guild mage.

"You didn't beat them in one hit, did you?" Iris said finally, having thought about the day's events.

"Hm?" Yuri wasn't listening.

"You didn't beat them all in one hit; you couldn't have."

"Sis, you saw it too, right? He did one slash," Isaac argued.

"No, she's technically not wrong," Yuri answered. "I swung three times and then stabbed, making it technically four hits. The naked eye only sees one of them though. And it doesn't have to be those specific directions that I swing either, it could be any place, mostly to hit the pressure points on the human body to beat them," he explained as he turned back to the window, thinking they would be satisfied with just that.

"Care to explain how you did it then?" Noul asked after a minute.

"Depends; you wanna hear the story behind it?"

"Sure, we've got four hours to spare in the train," Iris pushed him.

Yuri sighed, continuing to look out the window as he thought of the best words to describe it to the untrained ear. "Well, I guess the first place to start was how I did it. It's really hard to explain, but imagine the fact that what you see isn't always what you get. I told you that you could only see one of the four strikes that I did, well, the only way I could do it that fast is if I did it simultaneously, which is normally impossible considering how many arms I have; two. However, when you consider that light, and therefore lightning, move faster than the naked eye, then all I did was become one with my lightning for a split second, which is where the flash comes from."

"So it's like there are more than one of you at only that moment?" Noul said.

"Not exactly, but you're close. Sorry, I know it's complicated. Anyway, I've been doing it for about thirteen years now, so I've gotten so used to it that I can do it without using my lightning. To the trained eye though, you can see that version, but most people still think it's only one hit. As for how all of the swords did that, it's the same principle, only I incorporate a portion of the blades that I create into the swings. Every one of the swords that you guys saw was just three swords occupying the same space, or rather, one sword which had enough power in it to split into three, so essentially, I had three swords for every one you saw."

"So, you mean there wasn't only fifty, but-"

"Triple that…" Iris said, all of them stunned.

"I can only do three-in-one-space trick with concentration though, so if I were in a fight in which I were creating swords like that on the spot, there would only be one per space."

Yuri left it at that, with everyone still trying to comprehend it. "You…said there was a story behind it?" Noul asked finally.

"Oh yeah, well…alright. It all started when my Teacher left me in an orphanage…"

 **Author's Note:**

 **For any of you calling bullshit on the three-in-one thing...I'll give you that, but Hiro Mashima used very stupid and/or didn't make sense explanations in Fairy Tail too, so I'm taking creative liberty.**

 **And for those of you complaining about the power: remember; this is nearly twenty years after the Tartarus arc; given how powerful Natsu became in just one in the series with the right training, and you can see how exponentially more powerful characters need to be at the start of this in order to keep up.**

 **Anyway, thanks for reading and I hope you'll review and give me your thoughts!**


	4. 4 Part of the Soul

_It all started when my Teacher left me in an orphanage. I was at age four without parents and my future Teacher didn't know what to do with me. It was a tough time when I wasn't sure of myself, but I knew that as long as I held my sword, the Archangel, I'd be alright._

 _I stayed for only a few weeks before I was sick of it. See, I was the type of kid that never listened, so I often got in trouble with the adults at the orphanage. The other kids there would look at me like I was some kind of freak when I did, so that wasn't a plus, but it was what I believed in._

 _Why should I bother making my bed if I could be doing something more important, like, important at the time, eating?_

 _Anyway, I was just about sick of it, so I got the hell out of there; right in front of them too. They tried to stop me, but it seemed like they knew that my mind was set, and when lightning came from my hands after I unsheathed my sword, they definitely weren't stopping me._

 _Anyway, I tracked my Teacher down, and I arrived at her doorstep, the Mermaid Heel Guild, about a week and a half later. I opened the door and stepped inside to be surrounded by estrogen, as this guild was all female._

 _I got several eyes on me as I walked through the guild hall, until I spotted her. "Kagura!" I called, my voice most likely being poison to her ears. She gave me a look of disbelief as her guildmates eyed her._

" _Who's this kid?"_

" _How does he know Kagura?"_

" _Is that her sword?"_

 _She stormed over to me and grabbed my hand, quickly pulling me out of the guild. "Ow! Kagura, that hurts!" I whined before she let go._

 _She pointed at and glared at me. "What are you doing here? I left you in the hands of those-"_

" _I left. That place sucks," I answered bluntly. "I want you to teach me how to use this," I said as I held up my sword._

" _I already told you no. You're too young. Plus, you're not my responsibility," she countered._

" _But I wanna learn."_

" _Then go to my older sister in Magnolia."_

" _But this was your sword, so I want you to teach me," I continued. Kagura let out a frustrated sigh. "What?"_

" _I wouldn't…know the first place to start teaching you anyway. I'm no teacher."_

" _Have you tried?"_

" _Well, no, but-"_

" _Then practice on me," I gave a goofy grin._

" _Well, why do you want to learn how to sword fight anyway?" she questioned._

" _Because it seems like fun," I answered. "And because you can."_

" _No, that's no reason," she said as she turned her back on me, thinking that she finally found a way to get rid of me. "Come back with a reason, and-"_

" _B-because I want to be a hero!" I called to her desperately. She turned around, confused._

" _A hero?"_

" _Y-yeah, you said my dad was a hero, so why shouldn't I try to be one too?"_

 _She stared at me for a minute before she started laughing, a very rare sight by the way. "A hero! That certainly sounds like your father!" she exclaimed. "You know what? You wanna learn?" she demanded as she caught a falling leaf and showed it to me. "Go out to the woods and find out how to cut this into three pieces and then stick it to the trunk of a tree while they're still together. If you do that, then I'll teach you."_

" _Is that all?" I said, confident._

" _Alright then, off you go. Have fun out there!" she said with a rare grin before shoving me off and shutting the doors to the guild on me. With a shrug, I exited the town and out to the woods._

 _I stayed out there all the first day unsuccessfully. The most I could get was either two pieces or four, and there was no way I could stick them to the tree while still together at that point._

 _I did that for almost a week, until I gave out from hunger; I hadn't eaten since I got to town and I hadn't gone back. I crawled up to the guild, so weak that I couldn't even open the door. Thankfully, the person I wanted to see the most came out right at that moment._

" _Goodness, I didn't think you'd actually do it," she said as she knelt down beside me. "You…you're nothing but trouble," she said as she picked me up, slinging me under one arm, because back then she could still do that. She turned back to the guild. "I'm going home for the day!" she called as she started walking._

 _She took me to her home, which was on the edge of the woods, not quite in the town, but not in the trees yet; somewhere in the middle._

 _She made me food and let me eat it silently, with me being too busy to talk anyway. Once I was done, I sat back in my chair. "Thanks a lot!" I said as I stood. "I'm off to keep trying."_

" _Wait, Yuri."_

" _What now?"_

"… _I didn't think you'd actually be that stupid," she admitted. "Most kids would try for a day, give up, and move onto something else."_

" _Well, those kids are dumb. I wanna do this, no matter what."_

 _She chuckled. "Somehow I thought you'd say that."_

 _I grinned. "Is it weird or somethin'?"_

 _She shook her head and patted my head. "No, it's not. You go on and keep trying, but get a good night's rest first," she said. "I'll have the couch ready soon, but for now…go take a bath."_

 _I nodded, not thinking much of it, but thinking back on it, that look her eyes, she saw herself in me I think, back when she and my father were living under the same roof when they were my age and a little older._

 _With that, I started again, not improving much, for another half of a week. I plopped onto the ground, exhausted. By this point I was angry. Why wasn't I able to do this? I should be able to do this._

 _I sat up, so angry that I let out a stray bolt of lightning, which struck the tree much faster than I could see. Then, like lightning itself, it hit me. Faster than I could see…_

 _I stood. The secret wasn't the way I cut; it was the speed I cut it. Thinking like that, I tried again, but still got nothing. "You know, your magic is there for a reason," Kagura said from behind me, making me jump._

" _Well…I know, but how do I use it?"_

" _I don't know; that's for you to figure out. But remember; your lightning doesn't have to be separate from your own body. It may be sealed in your sword, but it's also a part of your soul."_

" _So I should be the lightning?"_

 _She motioned forward. "Go ahead and find out."_

 _I took a stance, waiting for a leaf to fall, and once one did, I focused everything on being the lightning that engulfed me as I dashed forward. I slashed with such speed that it seemed inertia couldn't keep up or something, because with my first swing, I was sent careening toward where I was swinging, in this case, to the left and directly into a tree._

" _You didn't have good footing," Kagura said. "Try again."_

 _I did, this time focusing all on my footing, but then I was too slow, and the leaf was cut in two pieces before falling to the ground._

" _Try again."_

 _And so I did, again and again, and each time I got a little bit closer, until it happened._

 _I became one with my lightning, swinging up and to the left, and then up and to the right, and then straight down, all three in my enhanced state, I could see that the swings left trails of equal length, all shining bright like a star. I didn't hesitate then; I thrust my sword forward into the tree._

 _I looked: the leaf seemed like I hadn't cut it at all, but it was stuck to the tree. Kagura came over and inspected it. She pulled very gently on a part, and pulled off a perfect third of the leaf. I grinned, satisfied at my work._

 _Meanwhile, Kagura was mentally sighing. "Jeez, now I have to train this kid…" she moaned. "…But I guess that's what you would do, if he asked you, right, Igi?"_

" _Yes! I did it! I did the Kusanagi!"_

" _Kusanagi?" Kagura questioned._

" _Get it? Leaf-cutter?"_

" _Kusanagi means grass-cutter, Yuri," she corrected, slumping her shoulders._

" _Same difference! Yes! This is so awesome! When do we start?!"_

 ** _Author's Note:_**

 ** _And that's the story of how you and I met- no, just kidding!_**

 ** _Anyway, thanks so much for reading; you have absolutely no idea how much it means to me that you made it this far. Even I'll admit hat I made the beginning brutally slow at times, but hey, this was a good introduction arc I'd say: we've got intros for the characters, especially Yuri, you've got an introduction to the new guild with a few of its members, and you've got a nice seg-way into a new arc with the conflict with Errol, so hey, that's cool I guess._**

 ** _Anyhow, it was mean so much if you'd leave a review telling what you thought of the chapter, but other than that, I'll see you guys at the beginning of the second arc: Ring Tail!_**


	5. 5 Recollecting Lost Pasts

They were off the train and making their way back to the guild. "So wait, I'm still confused; you're a Thunder Devil Slayer Wizard?" Noul asked.

"Yup," Yuri answered.

"And yet you use your sword instead."

"Yeah."

"But when you draw your sword you can make more?"

"Yu-huh."

"But…why don't you just make the swords and use them instead of carrying around the sword?"

"The swords I create I can't wield myself. I'm not sure what it is about it, but whenever I try to make one to use physically, I end up using too much magic power."

"And I have some questions about your family," Iris added.

"I gave up trying to understand a long time ago," Isaac admitted.

"Listen, it doesn't really matter how I use my magic, now does it?"

"Well…if we're a team…"

"Who said I was teaming up with you?" Yuri said with his eyes lowered, and after seeing his friends look away, he chuckled. "Nah, I'm just kidding; it was really fun to quest with you guys."

"Sweet! With someone like you with us, then we'll be the strongest team ever!"

"I would _seriously_ appreciate it if you would stop ignoring my question," Iris repeated.

"Actually, I'm kind of curious about your family too," Noul said. "You said that woman who came for you earlier was your Teacher, right? Well, who're your parents?"

"Do you have any brothers or sisters?" Isaac also asked.

"Um…I'd rather not explain that, if you wouldn't mind," Yuri answered, holding his hands up in defense as his friends swarmed him. "The story is a little…farfetched…"

"Bro, you can swing your sword at the speed of light; I think we can believe anything at this point," Noul argued.

With a little more persuasion, Yuri agreed, but in the privacy of his own apartment. "Alright, this story isn't something I want spread…because it'll make me a laughing stock. Got it?"

"Got it," they all said to him, listening close, now uber-curious about Yuri's origins.

He sighed. "So…I never knew my parents, so this is all from the mouth of my Teacher here, in case some details are missing. So, my surname is Asher, one I share with my father, Inigo Asher. He was a-"

"I knew it!" Iris popped a fist onto her palm. "The famous Fairy Tail Wizard! I knew I heard the name before!" she celebrated herself.

"Are you done?" Noul asked impatiently.

"Anyway, my father's name was Inigo Asher, and yes, he was a Fairy Tail Wizard. According to my Teacher, he was also a Devil Slayer Wizard. She never told me how he died, but she told me that he died at age twenty-one. He was betrothed to another Fairy Tail Wizard, Mirajane Asher, but he died before they could wed or have children."

Yuri waited for a response along the lines of "Then how are you here?" but he didn't get it. Instead, he continued.

"So, and this part is kind of fuzzy, but my father, for ultimately doing the world a great service or whatever, earned himself a favor from the God of Life and Death, and he chose to have a child birthed into this world, growing up like a normal child would, with blood from himself and his betrothed. And that child was…me…" Yuri trailed off, seeing the others' suspension of disbelief slowly fading as he went on. "I don't know how much of that is true though, but what I do know is true is that I inherited Inigo Asher's magic, his name, and his legacy, one of a hero, so that's what I wanted to be."

He leaned back in his chair, waiting for the roars of laughter and call-outs. Instead, they stared at him in silent awe, believing every word.

"So you're like…a Messiah or something…" Noul said slowly.

"What? No, I'm no Messiah," Yuri stated. "If I was a Messiah, then it would be hell on Earthland. Anyway, I'm finding it hard to swallow that you believe me."

"Well you wouldn't lie to your guildmates? You haven't given us any reason to not trust you," Iris stated. "And besides, even if it was made up, it makes for a decent story."

Yuri sighed. "You people are so weird…" he moaned. "What time is it?"

"Dinnertime, as far as I'm concerned."

"Oh!" Iris stood. "I can handle that!"

"Really, for everyone?"

"Well…it depends on the ingredients that you have."

"Well…" Yuri stood as well and showed her to the kitchen where she found that they definitely did _not_ have enough ingredients. "Alright well…I guess I can go out and buy some, but-"

"Then I'll go with you. You won't know what to get," Iris insisted.

"Couldn't we all just go eat the guild's food?" Isaac questioned.

Iris made a disgusted face. "Ew, gross! Unlike you, little brother, I have _refined_ tastes."

"You mean you're a picky eater?" Noul chuckled, slinging an arm over the back of her chair to look at them. "Alright, go on you two. We'll wait here."

Yuri nodded. "Alright, let's go," he said as he picked up the Archangel.

"Whoa there, what are you doing?"

"What?"

"Yuri, we're going to the market, not out to save the world. You can leave your sword here."

"What's the big deal? I carry it around everywhere."

"And yet you wonder why people are weary of you."

Noul then appeared next to them, or rather, a few feet away from them, running her hand up and down the sheathe. "I've got to admit though, this thing is one of a kind. Out of all the priceless swords I've stolen, this has got to be the best," she said, confusing Yuri as he realized that the sword was no longer in his hand and instead was in hers.

"What? Hey! Give that back!" he demanded attempting to grab it, but Noul then multiplied herself and played monkey-in-the-middle with it. Defeated, as he couldn't force her to give it back, he sighed. "Fine, just don't unsheathe it, and don't touch any of my stuff," he ordered as he and Iris went out the door.

As he shut it behind him and started walking side-by-side with her, he sighed. "Is it _really_ that important to you?" she questioned whether or not this was an act or not.

"Yes, it is," he replied. "I hate it when other people touch it. It makes me feel…dirty."

"I see…well, it'll only be for a few minutes, so just hang in there, okay?" she patted him on the shoulder with a smile.

He nodded and they went to the market, making major dents in Yuri's Jewel supply. "Do you really need all of this for one dinner?"

"See Yuri, unlike you, I prepare for my future, and yours too. I'm buying this much so you have enough to make whatever you want later," she said.

"But I don't eat at my house," he argued. "I eat at the guild, like everyone else…everyone except for your _boyfriend_ apparently," he made a face.

"You're _so_ immature," she complained. "Why are we friends?"

"Um…because I said you have pretty eyes?"

"Alright…that's all I'm taking from this conversation by the way; 'oh hurray, I've got pretty eyes'!"

With another sigh, Yuri accepted the load of another bag of food to carry. "Well, are we almost done?"

"Almost. One more store for the right spices."

He nodded and followed her to the store in question and into one of the isles. Then, they heard something peculiar at the register. "I'm warning you. Give me every last Jewel that's in the thing, and I'll leave."

Yuri looked at Iris, who was engrossed in her search for spices. So Yuri had two options; one, tell Iris and have her help him, or two, try and sneak up on the guy and take him down the old fashion way. Running away or acting like it wasn't happening wasn't an option by the way.

He tapped her on the arm. "Hey, some guy is holding up the store clerk," he whispered.

"So?" she whispered back. "It isn't our business."

"Well, I want to help."

"Then use your magic. I'm busy."

Well, there went the help. She just wrote off the situation! With a sigh, Yuri dropped the bags and made his way to a corner where he could assess the situation. From the looks of it, the guy was using some kind of ice magic, holding a dagger of ice up to the store clerk, who was currently stuffing Jewels in a bag.

Judging from how the knife was an actual knife and not just some pointy ice shard made Yuri think that he was an Ice-Make wizard, which means he won't be able to produce things as fast as Yuri could attack him, and if he could, then they should be predictable enough to dodge.

With that logic, Yuri crept up to just behind the man, and got an arm around his neck, using his other arm to keep the man's knife-hand at bay. Yuri crunched his abs and bent backwards, taking the guy with him and slamming him into the ground. With them both on the ground, Yuri tackled the man and wrestled the knife away from him, soon pinning him to the ground with an arm behind his back. "Who the hell are you?!" the man demanded.

"The guy that just kicked your ass."

"Ice-Make: Pillar!" he yelled, and, with one hand, sent them crashing into the ceiling with an ice pillar, making Yuri lose his hold on the man, and allowing him to escape. "Ice-Make: Leopard!" he yelled as a big cat made of ice charged straight at Yuri, which he just barely managed to escape with only a scratch on his cheek. The man continued with his Ice-Make barrage, pushing Yuri back to a wall, even being able to pin his arms to the wall to await the final blow. The man began laughing. "Kid, you honestly thought that you could beat a Ring Tail?" he showed off a mark on his arm. "I'll admit; you've got guts, but you're just out of your league," he said as he made another dagger. He reared it back to strike.

"With the power to shatter stone, I grant you double strength!" Iris' voice was heard as Yuri felt a new power surge in his limbs, allowing him to break through the ice that was binding him. He smashed his palms together to stop the knife from stabbing him.

He moved the dagger to stab into the wall before gripping the guy around the neck again and ramming his head into the wall with enough force to break through it. With the man dazed, he kneed him in the face one more time, knocking him out.

Yuri was panting; had he really exerted himself that much? He turned to Iris and grinned sheepishly. "Thanks; I really needed that."

She smirked back. "I could tell," she said. "Well, you smashed up the store, but look on the bright side; I got you some great spices!"

With that, the two left and started walking back to Yuri's apartment. They walked in silence for a while, the coolness of Fall freezing their lips together apparently. Eventually though, Iris spoke.

"Hey, um…Yuri?"

"Yeah? What is it?" he knew the question that she was going to ask.

"Why…didn't you use your magic back at the store?"

He sighed. "It's because…I couldn't."

"Why not?"

"Well…it's weird, but my magic is sort of…attached to my sword. When it isn't drawn, then I can't use magic."

"So that's why you always carry it around. I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault, you didn't know," he assured.

"Well, why didn't you say something?" she questioned, turning to face him and stopping walking.

"I…"

"You could've been hurt, or worse!"

"It's because…" he chuckled.

"What's so funny?" Iris questioned.

"Well, I think it's funny because I didn't want to look weak to you guys."

"What?"

"I said that I didn't want to look weak," she just stared at him. "Sorry, it's just this stupid hero complex thing…I'm sorry if I worried you."

"It's…fine…just don't do it again, alright?" she said. "I don't want to have to save you all of the time."

He smirked. "I promise; it was a onetime deal."

With that they continued walking, though it seemed to have gotten colder, even started to snow. Iris moved closer to her friend.

"Um…"

"I'm cold," she explained. "And you're warm."

Yuri nodded, slinging an arm around her shoulders to offer more warmth. However, soon, Iris stopped. "Oh, sorry, is that too close?" Yuri asked.

Iris shook her head, reached up and touched the cut on Yuri's cheek. "You _did_ get hurt."

"What? This?" Yuri moved her hand away. "It's nothing."

Iris dug into her purse. "You should at least bandage it," she insisted, pulling out one of the items, a small bandage, opening it and placing it upon the recently closed wound. "There, was that so hard?"

"I…guess not," Yuri conceded, noticing something out of the corner of his eye. "Hey, you wanna see something cool?"

"What?"

He pointed into an alley they were passing. "There's a flower blooming tonight."

"In the slums of the town too."

With a smile from both of them, they both returned to Yuri's apartment for an enjoyable dinner.

 **Author's Note:**

 **Hey guys! Thanks so much for reading this and I was wondering if you guys got the reference at the end there. If you haven't played Crisis Core, you wouldn't get it, but hey, if you did, go ahead and leave a review to prove your nerdiness alongside me for making it to begin with!**

 **Other than that, thanks again for reading and I hope you're all looking forward to the next chapter as we continue the arc!**


	6. 6 Avoiding a Quandary

Yuri woke slowly, being at peace throughout the night knowing that no one could bother him. Well…actually there was a door linking his apartment with the one directly next to it, but the owners said that they're rarely used, so he didn't worry too much about it…for now…

Anyway, Yuri decided to wake up early today, opting to get to the guild for breakfast. He stood and stretched a bit before grabbing his sword and exiting his apartment, ironically at the same time as his neighbor, or one of them. "Oh hey, you're the newbie in the guild, aren't you?" Errol questioned, looking equally as disheveled as Yuri must've been.

"Yeah, what if I am?"

"What was your name again?"

"Yuri Asher," the man claimed.

"Asher? Yeah, my mother used to talk a lot about an 'Asher'. Said he was part of Fairy Tail," they began walking side-by-side. "You know him?"

"…" Yuri was hesitant to bring up his connection with his father. "…I've heard the story," he half-lied. "What does it matter anyway?"

"Well, if you were connected to him, I'd totally kick your ass for one. Mother said that that guy was one of the people she could never straight-up beat. If their children fought it out for them, then that would solve the problem, right?"

"Well, if I were going to fight you, I'd do it on a full stomach," Yuri said, trying to draw focus away from fighting. As much as he disliked this guy's treatment of Iris, he didn't want to fight him unless he was forced to.

Errol chuckled. "I like your style, even if you are too cocky for your own good," he replied, patting Yuri roughly on the back a couple times with a grin.

Yuri sighed. "Listen…Errol," he started.

"Yeah, what?"

"About Iris…"

"What about her?"

"Well, it's just…she's my friend, and I don't want her to be…mistreated. With how the rest of our group seems to not like you, I was wondering if that had anything to do with it," Yuri asked, though he already was ninety percent sure of the truth.

Errol sighed as they exited the complex. "Listen, I've no idea what you've heard, but Iris and I really do love each other. Sure, our start was based on my selfishness, but it turned out fine in the-"

"What do you mean it started with your selfishness?"

Errol looked hesitant to tell the tale, but he did so to his neighbor. "Well, I'd recently become the 'Hero of Esperscale' and the guild asked what I wanted as payment, because they're really big about debts apparently. I said that I wanted Est- I mean, Iris for a while, to form a party with her. At first, she was hesitant, but once she saw me in action, I think she fell pretty quickly."

" _Or maybe she just got too scared to leave you_ ," Yuri thought to himself.

"I see," Yuri said. "Well, just so long as you're not hurting her in any way, I don't have a problem with it."

"Good, because if you did, then I'd have a problem with you," Errol warned. "And you wouldn't want that."

Yuri ignored the blatant threat as he entered and got his food, sitting down next to Noul and across from Isaac. "Where's Iris?"

"Probably getting herself dolled up," Noul guessed.

"Does she actually do that?" Yuri questioned.

"You have no idea," Isaac said. "So why were you walking to the guild with _him_?"

"Well, I wanted to make sure that he wasn't doing anything…questionable to Iris behind our backs."

"What did he say?"

"He said that he wasn't, so…"

"And you believed him?" Noul questioned.

"What am I supposed to do? It's not like I'll stoop to sneaking around like a coward. If he's proven wrong, then I'll kick his ass," Yuri said plainly, not thinking much of it.

"Yeah, good luck with that," Noul stated. "No one in the guild can beat Errol in a straight fight except for Master Shynryn."

"Not to mention that she thinks everyone in the guild owes him," Thera stated, seemingly appearing next to Isaac, causing him to jump.

"Gah! I really wish you wouldn't do that…" the boy moaned.

"Quit your whining."

"I don't know, Thera, you look pretty strong. You can't beat him and get rid of the 'debt'?" Yuri inquired.

"I would if I could, but my idiot sister says that I can't, and I'll trust her. As for whether or not I could beat him, it'd be close."

"Well what's your magic?"

"It's a variation of the Arc of Time Lost Magic. I can temporarily manipulate the flow of time, even stop it."

"Sounds pretty over-powered."

"Well, the catch is that it only affects those with lower magic power than I, and…he has equal to me, so…"

"So it doesn't affect him; perfect," Yuri concluded. "Have you ever fought with him?"

Thera shrugged. "Nope. I don't plan to either. I only battle those who challenge me, and he has this delusion that he'd always win just because he's the 'Hero of Esperscale' and all. I swear, he stopped one person from destroying the town while me and my sis were away and now…" she sighed in agitation. "Oh, it frustrates me…although, I guess it's better than having to rebuild the town, right?"

"Yeah, but no one else could match the guy who attacked us, what with his black lightning and all," Isaac reminded everyone.

Noul sighed. "Don't remind me. I still get goosebumps like it's being shot at me," she shivered, soon shaking her head to rid herself of the thoughts. "Anyway, do you two want to go on a job today?"

"I'm still recovering," Yuri made an excuse, which got him in a fake headlock.

"'Recovering my ass!" Noul exclaimed, giving him a noogie before releasing him.

Yuri then noticed a certain someone walk through the guild doors. He waved to her. "Hey, Iris!"

She gave him a glance before quickly shielding her face and stumbling over to get food and sit next to Errol, who was a few tables away.

Yuri must've looked confused. "What's with her?"

Noul shrugged. "I don't know. Did you say something weird?"

"Not that I can remember," he mumbled back, trying to recall the words they shared the previous night, suddenly remembering. "Oh yeah! I remember what I was gonna do today!"

"Oh really? Make my day…" Noul replied unenthusiastically.

"It better not be causing trouble," Thera warned.

Yuri shook his head. "Well, I guess the best place to start is here. Have any of you heard of people who call themselves Ring Tails?"

Isaac closed his eyes. "Nope, not ringing a bell here."

"I'm drawing a blank as well," Thera admitted.

Yuri turned to Noul. "What about you?" he asked before seeing her shaking. "Um…Noul, are you alright?"

"Ring…Tails…?" she muttered under her breath. Soon, she took a deep breath, running her hand through her hair. "…No, I've never heard of them," she stated before standing up with her plate. "I'm gonna go pick out a job," she said as she left.

Yuri looked to Isaac for her strange behavior, and Thera had mysteriously disappeared on them, so she wasn't going to help him understand either. Isaac simply shrugged and went back to eating his food.

Now suspicious, Yuri began thinking of possibilities, and two seemed the most likely.

One: she was a part of these "Ring Tails" at some point and had a falling out, explaining the sullen mood she got after their mention.

Or two: A relative was part of them and they, and by extension Noul herself, were betrayed or otherwise hurt because of them in some way shape or form.

Deciding to put it to rest for now, Yuri quickly wolfed down the rest of his food and met Noul at the job request board. "Find anything?" he asked.

"Not yet. Gah! There's no good paying jobs right now…" she moaned.

"What about this one?" Yuri picked up one of the flyers and read it. "All we have to do is help cure some disease, right?"

"I don't do 'sick'," she answered. "Let's find something else."

"But-"

"Yuri, come on. There's got be something else," she insisted.

"…We're taking this one if you can't find one that's better," he compromised.

Noul searched restlessly for that one magic request, the one that may not catch her eyes, but gosh darn it, it would be worth it for the reward. However, no matter how many times she scanned and rescanned the request board, she couldn't find it, and, walking in defeat toward a triumphant Yuri, they returned to Isaac, who was still eating. "Find one?" the boy asked, his mouth stuffed with food.

"Yep!" Yuri answered cheerily, with Noul grumbling in the background. "Oh, lighten up, will you?"

"I said I don't do sick, alright?" Noul retorted.

"Whatever," Yuri waved her off as he started toward the entrance. "Anyway, I'll meet you guys at the entrance," As Yuri turned around to go to the door, he bumped into the Angel. "Oh, Iris, hey."

She didn't answer, just turned away from him. She then started walking away. Yuri caught her arm.

"Iris, hey, the least you could do is return the-" he spotted a large bruise on her cheek.

 **Author's Note:**

 **Oh no, what ever could have happened...? That was sarcasm by the way. Yeah, not really much to say about this one, just a bit of a transitional chapter, but next time, we'll see the climax of this little situation, so be looking forward to that!**

 **Other than that, it would mean the world to me if you'd just leave a simply review stating your thoughts on the chapter, or the story, or anything, really. I won't bite, I promise! Just please, get the troll review off of my most recent list! ;D**


	7. 7 Espers' Encounter

"Iris…" Yuri's voice was nearly inaudible.

"I…shouldn't talk with you," she said vaguely, wrestling free of Yuri's grasp.

"W-wait, I-" she was already gone.

Yuri clenched his fists after her, his grip tightening around the Archangel. Isaac and Noul met him as per his instructions. "Hey, we're ready to go, so let's-"

"Hang on…" Yuri interrupted, his voice low and threatening. He started walking toward Errol, who was still eating. "I'll only be a minute."

He stood at the edge of the Hero's table as he ate. Errol eyed him. "Can I help you?" he questioned.

"Remember when you said about having a problem with me?" he asked, his voice still low.

"Yeah, why?" Errol turned to face him.

"The feel was mutual!" Yuri yelled as he overturned the table, causing everything in the guild to stop and for attention to be drawn to them. Errol stood, and stared Yuri down.

"You should learn your place, kid."

"Then tell me where Iris got that huge bruise," he countered.

Errol smirked. "Didn't she tell you? She _fell_ ," he answered, so smug that it couldn't possibly be considered as the truth.

Blindly, Yuri lashed out, striking Errol in the face and knocking him to the ground. Shynryn stood between them. "Hey, come on, Yuri. There's no need for that."

"No, go on, let's let the kid blow off steam," Errol said as he stood, eager to pound Yuri back.

"Come on, I'd be happy to cut that smug grin off your face!" Yuri claimed as he drew his sword, white sparks exploding into the room. Errol summoned several swords aimed at the Thunder Devil Slayer, as well as two to use for himself.

Shynryn remained adamant. "Guildmates _shouldn't_ be fighting like this!" she argued.

"Anyone who hurts my friend becomes my enemy, no matter what guild they're in!" Yuri yelled, swerving past Shynryn and clashing swords with Errol.

Errol quickly forced the other swordsman back and shot his floating swords toward him, which he promptly deflected away, nearly stabbing a couple guildmates, before making swords of his own to shoot at his opponent, which were dispatched in much the same way.

Thera then stood in front of Yuri, blocking his path. "If you two are going to fight, then do it outside. Other people don't need to be put in danger here!" she yelled, urging both in the direction of the door, which they both sprinted towards, shooting each other with blades the entire time.

Once both were outside, Errol made around twenty swords, ready to shoot. "Do you really want to do this? You could just walk away now without getting hurt," Errol inquired.

"Why the hell would you care?!"

"Because you're still my guildmate, as much as you are a prick."

The comment only made Yuri angrier. "And Iris isn't?!" he questioned, dashing toward Errol, being bombarded with swords, which he was having slight trouble keeping up with as they were being shot with such precision.

Once the initial wave was done, Yuri had time to use his signature Kusanagi, taking the position, and quickly executing the attack, appearing behind Errol, expecting to hear him fall to the ground, but was instead kicked to the ground himself.

"Phew! That was close! I'll give you this; you definitely know how to use that thing," Errol commented genuinely. "I know I couldn't attack with that much speed…then again, you probably couldn't defend against it anyway," he mocked, causing Yuri to attack once again, only to be bombarded once again, with him only having enough time to counter a few of them with his own, fending the rest off manually, and only being partially successful in doing so, with him getting cuts on his limbs and torso.

" _Damn, I can't do this with only one sword…"_ Yuri thought, leaping away from Errol, and gathering up his magic power, holding out his hand and focusing his energy into it, praying that it would take the shape of his blade.

The pain then came, with Yuri crying out in agony as the process continued, with him using up much of his magic power simply to try and recreate the Archangel, and then the white lightning started taking form, the correct form.

"Is he gonna do it?" Isaac questioned from the sidelines, with everyone having come out to watch. "Is he gonna make a sword?"

However, as the light in his hand grew brighter, near blinding, Yuri then suddenly collapsed onto his hands and knees, panting, his arm in an immense amount of pain. After the fall, he was out of magic power, even with the Archangel drawn.

"What? You're just giving out on me? Things were just starting to get interesting," Errol looked disappointed as he willed his swords to disappear. "I was just about to change armors to match you too…"

Yuri could only manage to send a glare at him, standing and raising his blade weakly, only to collapse again. Noul and Isaac rushed to his side. "Come on, give it up man," Noul said.

"We told you that you couldn't beat him," Isaac agreed, helping Yuri to a standing position, with one of his arms being useless until he recovered his energy.

"No, I have to…" Yuri choked out, completely exhausted.

"Listen man, you can't fight him right now. You can settle this with him when we get back," Isaac urged him forward, with Yuri reluctantly allowing himself to be guided to the train station.

As they were about to board, after Yuri had recovered enough to walk, though he still held his arm as it was still throbbing, Iris caught up with them. "Wait!" she called.

Isaac ran to her sister. "Sis, are you okay? What happened?"

Yuri shot her a hard glare, with her soon crumbling under it. "Errol…hit me last night, but, listen it wasn't-"

"He what?!" Isaac clenched his fist. "I want _so_ badly to hit him back!"

"Hey, come on, Isaac, it isn't like you to get so worked up," Noul slung her arm over his shoulders. "It's not like this is the first time something like this has happened."

That certainly didn't help Yuri's mood. Iris walked up to him and placed her hand on his throbbing arm. He turned away from her without speaking. "Listen, please just listen. I promise that this isn't what you think," she assured.

"But he hit you, hard," he asked quietly.

"…Yes, he did," she admitted.

"And you're standing up for him?"

"I am, because he isn't usually like that."

"Yeah, sure," Isaac commented behind her back, getting a slap to the back of the head from Noul.

"But why?!" Yuri's voice rose. "I don't get it! How can you vouch for someone who purposely hurt you?"

"Because this is just the way things have to be!" she snapped back, with the two coming to a tense standoff. "Even if I wanted to leave him, I couldn't or else I would have to leave you and Noul and the whole of Esperscale behind!"

Yuri clenched his fist. "I don't…understand…"

"You don't need to; just stay out of it. It's for the best, I promise."

Yuri took a deep breath. "Errol, he…almost said a name that wasn't yours…do you know what it is?" he inquired.

The mention of said name seemed to cause Iris to tense before realizing that she did, causing her to relax once again. "Well, that would probably be my real name."

"You lied about your own name…"

"I didn't lie; I changed my name because I hated it!" she snapped. "It was…Esther…" she turned her back on him. "Don't let Errol catch you using it," she warned before running past her friends, tears streaming form her eyes.

Yuri glared at her reproaching form. "I plan to call you by what your parents named you; it would be shameful to hide it, a disgrace to who brought you into this world."

 **Author's Note:**

 **Ah, so we see the Hero of Esperscale isn't exactly a stand-up guy after all...whatever.**

 **Anyway, thank you all so much for reading, I know this one was a little short, but I promise they'll really pick up after this one, so I truly do hope you'll read on.**

 **Other than that, don't forget to leave a review telling me your thoughts, and I'll see you all in the next chapter!**


	8. 8 Trickster's Vices

After a day or two of travelling, the three arrived in the town that the paper specified. Yuri looked at it. "Alright, so we're looking for an…Athul here."

"Weird name," Isaac claimed, his hands behind his head lazily. "Does it say what he looks like?"

"No, it didn't, but given that he wants a disease cured, I'm betting the hospital or medical center would be the best place to look."

"Yeah, uh-huh. Sure, you two have fun with that," Noul said, pointing to the downtown area. "I'm gonna hit the town for a while."

"You aren't coming with us? Some team player you are," Yuri nudged her playfully.

"Oh, can it, will you? I said I don't do sick and I'm gonna stick by that. Just find me somewhere in town after you find the guy, alright?" she said back, not waiting for an answer before she wandered off.

Yuri sighed after her. "What's wrong?" Isaac inquired.

"She's off."

"What's that mean?" the younger boy asked as they began walking.

"She's been acting strange since I mentioned Ring Tail," Yuri explained further.

"She seemed normal to me, and I've known her longer. Maybe it's that time of the month," Isaac said with a shrug, soon getting a shiver. "When Iris gets like that, then I know that she-"

"Alright, so do you know which way the nearest hospital is by any chance?" Yuri interrupted him.

"Not a clue."

Yuri sighed. "Got it…alright, let's look around for a map. Hey, Isaac, help me look, will you?"

"Or maybe we can ask around."

"Or…we could do that. Good job, team," Yuri said, changing his previous plan.

* * *

As Noul was wandering, her eye caught a jewelry store, showing off countless rings and necklaces. She pressed her face up against the glass, her heart starting to pound as her previous instinct began to kick in as she spotted a beautiful necklace studded with sapphires. She suddenly straightened and walked nonchalantly into a nearby alleyway, knowing the store clerk didn't see her sucking on the glass.

Noul then split into two of herself, with one being more mischievous than usual and the other being her normal self, even though she, consciously, had control over both versions.

* * *

"Excuse me," Yuri started as he approached the front desk. "I was wondering if we could find a certain person in need of help here?"

"Sweetie, this is a place where everyone needs help, but I'll do my best," the nurse answered. "Who is it that you're looking for?"

He showed her the job request. "His name is supposed to be Athul, and he requested for us to get a cure for him. We just need to ask some questions before we can get it."

"Athul? I'm sorry dear, but he isn't a patient here. We tried to get him help, but he refused, saying only a certain magic could cure him. He wouldn't even show us the extent of his illness before he ran off actually."

Yuri and Isaac exchanged a glance before Yuri turned back. "Well, do you know where we can find him?"

* * *

One of the Nouls went into the store, seeing no one else there, which made things easier, and examined one of the pieces. The store clerk approached her.

"Oh hello miss, do you see anything that you like?"

"Actually, I was wondering about…" the two got off into a conversation about the particular ring or two that she was pretending to like, while the other her, the one whom the clerk was oblivious to, was lockpicking the case to the one she actually wanted, soon getting it open, nabbing it quickly, and closing it back up silently, exiting the store with her prize in hand, soon bumping into a person who was covered very well in a large hoodie and jeans. Noul could hardly see his face, but she saw that he had bright and curious green eyes, quite striking actually.

She was so lost in them that she didn't notice him take the necklace from her hand and hold it up in front of her. "You know, stealing is never the answer. If you want, I could just buy it for you," he said as he grabbed her hand, with much of her protest, and dragged her back into the store, with her other self still talking with the man. "Excuse me, sir!" he called across the store, getting the attention of the clerk. "I'd like to buy this one."

However, the clerk was far too occupied as to how there were two of Noul. The original laughed nervously before the other slung her arm around her. "Sorry, twin sister; didn't mean to take so long!" one of them said with a grin, seemingly convincing the clerk.

The man shook his head. "Ahem, yes, well…that one should actually be in its case, so I don't know how-"

"She stole it," the hooded man said bluntly, pointing to one of the Nouls. "While the other was taking your attention."

"What?!"

"I just came to make sure you got the money for it."

"Yes well…if you say so. I do hope you keep your little thief on a leash next time," he said as he accepted the Jewels. The hooded man then pushed the Nouls out and into the alleyway, where she returned to one being, grabbing the guy around the collar.

"What the hell was that?!" she demanded.

"What?" the guy asked, oblivious.

"You just ruined my robbery!"

"I don't see how that's _my_ problem," the man replied, not bothering to push Noul away but rather just kept staring at her with a blank face, not that she could see it. All she could see of his face were just around his eyes. "I don't like it when people steal using magic; it's annoying."

"Oh yeah? And why else would I have Afterimage Magic other than to do things like that?" Noul questioned, letting go of the man and crossing her arms.

"You could use it to…"

"Use it to what?" Noul persisted.

"Well, I mean…there are a lot of things, just…not stealing for sure."

"Yeah, uh-huh."

"Why don't you try helping people before you go stealing from them?"

Noul waved the idea off. "Tch, it's a fleeting dream," she stated. "And who are you to tell me what to do with my magic anyway?"

"Well, if you want my name, then I'm Athul."

"Athul?"

The hooded man nodded. "The people around town call me Arthur though. The reason I stopped you was because I saw that you're from a guild. Would you, by chance, be here because of my request?"

"I…yeah, I am, and my friends are helping me too. They're looking for you, so you should go look for them," Noul tried to get rid of this guy.

"But you're here to help too, right? We could look together."

"Well, I'm busy trying to find your cure, so you should just-"

"By stealing jewelry?"

"Well…I got distracted, but-"

"Noul!" Isaac's voice entered her ears, followed closely by the sound of her palm slapping her forehead.

"And here they are…"

"Noul!" Yuri panted as they stopped in front of her, having ran. "So, this Athul guy usually wears a hoodie to hide his face and he wanders in and out of town and-"

"Stops robberies apparently," she finished. "I know; I found him."

The two other males sized the new guy up, with Isaac being the first to hold out his hand in greeting. "Alright , Athul, I'm Isaac."

With a relieved smile, Athul returned the handshake. "You can call me Arthur," he said as he also shook hands with Yuri.

"Yuri Asher," he introduced himself. "We're here because of your illness? Are you sure that you shouldn't be in a hospital?"

"Actually…I'd rather _not_ go back there," Arthur stated. "I don't do hospitals."

"Sounds like someone we know," Yuri eyed Noul, who looked away. "Alright, then we'd like to ask a few questions. If you don't mind us asking what we're dealing with, we'd like to know what kind of disease you have so that we can go find the cure."

"Actually, I already know what the cure is, but I don't know how to create it."

"Oh, alright then."

"But if you want to know what disease it is…" Arthur checked to make sure no one else was looking before removing his hood. The three were left speechless. "It's a side-effect of using the primitive molding magic, Stone-Make."

"Primitive?"

"Stone-Make? I've never heard of it…"

The three looked on at Arthur, with his face, save for patches around one of his eyes and part of his mouth, were crusty, like wasteland-type crusty, with cracks forming on his skin and giving it the appearance of a sand-less desert, a true wasteland.

Arthur pulled the hood back over his head, showing only his eyes once again. "Anyway, like I said, I think I know of way to get rid of this curse, but I need to know how to create the cure."

"How do we find out?" Noul questioned.

"Well, apparently this local organization known as the Ring Tails has a book on the subject. I request that you help me get it. It's called the Book of Oberon."

"Ring Tail?" Yuri wondered. "The same guys who held up the store…you said they're a local organization? Nothing big?"

"I'm not sure. They came around these parts recently and have been harassing the townsfolk. I've no idea if they're stationed elsewhere too, but I don't want to find out."

"They are," Noul stated, getting the attention of her teammates. A tense silence followed, broken only by the bustling crowd just meters away. After a moment, Noul sighed, hung her head, and put her hand to her face. "Jeez, I hate these serious moments," she groaned, flashing a smile. "Let's just get on with it already, or are you gonna sit there staring at me all day."

With that, everyone was broken out of their spell. Yuri turned back to Arthur. "So, do you know where their base is?"

"Yeah," the Stone-Make wizard replied. "Follow me."

 **Author's Note:**

 **Hey all! I couldn't help but realize how far you've gotten along in this here story, and I'd like to personally thank you, so...thank you. Unfortunately, I won't be able to work on this as much as I want to, but I promise that it'll be finished, and hey, I've got about 40 chapters int eh can to upload while I work, so here's hoping for no major breaks for buffer room.**

 **Anyway, thank you again for reading and I truly do hope you'll consider favorite-ing, following, or, even better, reviewing to give me your thoughts! Until next time!**


	9. 9 Discussions of Family

All throughout the walk to the small fort, Noul was getting…jittery. " _He can't be here. There's no way he's here,_ " she kept thinking as she rubbed her hands together, though they were both already moist with sweat.

"Alright, it's just past these trees," Arthur said as they all ducked behind a bush. Yuri surveyed the area.

"Well, they definitely don't know how to guard a building for their life."

"Are you sure the Book of Oberon is here?" Isaac asked.

"I saw them take it inside and I've been watching every day," he assured. "From a...distance, that is."

Yuri sighed. "Jeez, this is going to be really hard with just the four of us…"

"You don't have to do it," Arthur said. "I mean, if it's that hard I don't want to bother you," he said with the most serious face.

"No, no, it's just…we'll do it because you're gonna pay us, right? I mean, _I_ would stay and help even if you didn't pay, but this one here is all about the dough," Yuri nudged Noul. "Anyway, back to the matter at hand; here's the plan," he started. "Noul, you should distract the guards, get them away from the door with your-"

"No," she interrupted.

"Uh…what?"

"I said no. My magic isn't something for you to abuse," she said, crossing her arms stubbornly and turning away. Yuri turned to Isaac, who only shrugged.

"Alright, that was weird of her," he stated, right in front of her to be clear, though she didn't seem to care.

"Alright then, I…jeez that throws a huge wrench in my plan, you know?"

"I could distract them with my magic," Arthur said.

"Isn't your magic the reason you have this illness? You should refrain from using it," Isaac reminded. "Yuri and I can distract while you two sneak in."

"Right; no one says we have to clear out this base. We just need to find the book and get out," he stated. "Does that sound good?" everyone nodded.

"What do I do?" Noul asked.

"Well I don't know; what are you willing to do?" Yuri countered, raising an eyebrow and getting a light punch to the arm. "Alright, just follow Arthur and help him look for the book then."

Everyone agreed to that and Isaac and Yuri quickly shot out of the bushes and started raising hell into their ranks of ten or so members standing guard. Isaac quickly lifted himself up to take care of the people shooting magic bullets at them with a quick Sea God's Pulse, knocking them down for Yuri to deal with in the form of a potent wall of black water.

As the two caught their breath and met up with each other, they noticed that the other group had already gone inside. "We should help them look," Isaac said.

"You know, I never mentioned this before, but you're really good with your Slayer Magic," Yuri commented.

"Really? Thanks, you too," Isaac replied as they entered, seeing a diverging path. "Which way did they go?"

"Um…when in doubt go left, right?"

"Right," Isaac said, with Yuri starting down the left and Isaac starting down the right. They both backtracked and stared at each other. "Huh?"

"What are you doing?"

"What do you mean? You said right, right?"

"No, I said left. Get it right," they both went down their respective corridors again, only to backtrack again, with Yuri picking up and placing Isaac on the correct path and urging him forward. "Let's hope they kept in mind that 'when in doubt go left'."

They didn't.

Noul and Arthur ended up going to down the right path, where everything should've been right, right? Right.

Anyway, they were having a tense walk, with Noul clearly in a bad mood. "So…Noul?" Arthur started.

"What?"

"What's…Esperscale like?" he asked cautiously.

"It's…fun…for the most part," she answered.

"Okay, um…what are the people like? Do you think they'd…think I'm strange?"

"Probably," she answered curtly.

"Oh…"

"…But after a day or so of adjustment, everyone wouldn't really care," she answered. "You thinking about joining once you get this thing cured or what?"

"Yeah, actually I was. I've never known what it's like to have a family really, so it would be-"

"Whoa there, guy. That's a pretty big leap, don't you think?" Noul stopped him. "Family is related by blood, not guildmark," she claimed. "No one at Esperscale is treated like family; at best we're good friends."

"B-but I-"

"If you want family, then go join Fairy Tail or some other traditional guild like that."

Without another word, Noul continued walking, leaving Arthur tagging along behind her half sad and half confused. What was with her family? Why was it such a touchy subject? Arthur wanted to know.

* * *

Coincidentally, Yuri was curious of Noul as well.

"Hey, Isaac?"

"Yeah?"

"When'd you meet Noul?"

"When? Well, let's see…" he shrugged. "Eh, four or five years ago."

"And…was she the same?"

Isaac burst into laughter. "Hahahaha!" he cried, with Yuri covering his mouth to keep him quiet.

"Jeez, announce our presence to the whole compound, will you?"

"Sorry, but that was just really funny. Noul couldn't be any more different than she was when she first joined Esperscale."

"How so?" Yuri urged him to continue, to find out the truth. However, Isaac was onto it.

"Well, you know, she was…uh…quieter for one, and…smaller, I guess?"

"What do you mean quieter? You're her best friend,so she must've told you about it, right?"

"Well…I'm not quite sure of the details myself, but…" Isaac turned back to his teammate. "Listen, Yuri, I usually hate secrets because I'm really bad at keeping them, but this is something that I _can't_ tell you unless she says it's okay. I'm…sorry," he stated.

"I…it's fine, Isaac. It's clearly something that…well…you know, that she doesn't want spreading," the silver-haired teen answered. Isaac nodded at that and the two continued walking in silence.

* * *

Back with Noul and Arthur, the two finally came to a series of doors, the first of which led to exactly where they were going; the library. " _Finally_!" Noul cried upon seeing the mountains of books before realizing that they were, well, mountains of books. "This is gonna take forever…" she moaned as Arthur started sifting through them.

"Might as well start, right?" he replied as Noul followed his example.

Soon they became too engrossed in their search that they didn't notice that another person had walked in and was watching them, and _just_ watching them. It wasn't until twenty minutes later that he stood and cleared his throat.

The two younger mages whirled around and glared at the hooded man, both taking the position to unleash their magic on him. They couldn't see any part of his face other than his mouth because of the hood, so Noul couldn't tell whether or not he recognized her.

"So, I was right to come here for you all," he said vaguely, his voice familiar to Noul, but she couldn't place a name.

"Leave us be and you won't get hurt," Noul warned, creating copies of herself and forming a circle around the man, trapping him.

"Anything you could do to me has already been done by others. But if you want to play for a while; I can oblige," he claimed, his cloak falling behind him as he raised his arms, black lightning arcing out from them and forming a small circle of black clouds around him.

"You?" Noul questioned. "You're the one who attacked Esperscale three years ago!" a grin cracked onto her face. "Oh-ho-ho, I've been meaning to get back at you since then; I hope you're ready!"

With Yuri and Isaac, they had been going along a silent walk through the seemingly endless building when they felt a rumbling. The two looked at each other for a split second before they both broke into a run.

In only a matter of seconds, all of the copies that Noul had made prior to the fight were vaporized by the hooded man, causing her to hold her arm in pain. Every time a large number of her afterimages were destroyed, the rebound of magic power takes its toll on her original body.

Arthur took the position to forge a construct. "Wait! Yuri said _not_ to use your magic!" she called to him, though he ignored her.

"Stone Make: Club!" he yelled, creating a massive, what else but a, stone which he swung toward the hooded man, but it was simply blown apart by the black lightning, with more arcing out to strike Arthur away and send him colliding with the wall behind them.

The hooded man put his hand on his hips, holding the other up at Noul, ready to shoot his lightning at her. "Jeez, I'd forgotten how weak you were," he commented. "No wonder we lost back then."

"Don't go acting like you're on our side. You attacked us, remember?" Noul countered.

"Tch," the hooded man seemed to get annoyed as he shot out a wide blast of black lightning suddenly toward Noul who created enough copies to propel herself out of the way, though then her arm and now torso were in even more pain.

Arthur then came up from behind. "Stone Make: Leopard!" he yelled as three of the stone animals charged toward the man. However, he only jumped on top of one and let its friends destroy it before blasting the other two apart as well.

The hooded man took a deep breath. "Alright, I've had enough fun. I think it's time I finish what I started three years ago, that is until the main event has arrived," he stated monotonously, approaching Noul, who was still struggling to stand. He reared back a fist infused with his magic, hesitating only slightly, before thrusting his fist forward toward her head in an attempt to knock her unconscious at the very least, though it never made contact.

A lone sword that was shot from the entrance stopped him, one made of white lightning.

Yuri aimed his sword at the man. "Alright, you wannabe lightning wizard; I think it's time you played with me for a while," he stated, trying to draw the hooded man's attention from his friends. Isaac had already gone over to Arthur and the two were helping Noul. "You three try and find the book; I'll hold this guy off."

The three nodded to him as they began searching. "Actually, let me help you with that," the hooded man grinned. "The 'book' isn't here; try the head hauncho's office," he stated.

"And why should we believe you?" Yuri questioned.

"Because, main event, I want this to be a private duel," he stated. "Now begone, pests," he ordered to the other three. They cautiously exited, looking back every now and then to see if he would stab them in the back. "Ah, finally…I've been waiting for nearly four years for this moment; the whole reason i Attacked that pathetic guild, though, granted, I _was_ a half-decade early."

"Why? Why am I so special to you?" Yuri questioned.

"It's quite simple really. By destroying you, I'm going to avert the world's destruction."


End file.
